The Morning Download: CIOs Get More Strategic About IT Spending in 2019

By Tom Loftus

Good day, CIOs. Global IT spending is expected to reach a total of $3.79 trillion by the end of the year, up 1.1% from 2018 but down from a 3.2% growth rate projected in January, Gartner Inc. said in a new report.

Uncertainty drives cloud spending. As concerns over trade disputes, Brexit, etc. weigh on IT spending decisions, CIOs are getting more strategic about software and hardware purchases, John David Lovelock, a research vice president at Gartner, tells CIO Journal's Angus Loten. The enterprise software market is expected to grow 7.1% to $427 billion. Infrastructure-as-a-service and other cloud-based platforms are also growing fast.

And then there's AI. The expanding use of artificial intelligence throughout enterprise IT systems also is giving the software market a boost. Gartner predicts that the use of AI-enabled products and services will generate $1.9 trillion in total value for organizations in 2019. “Artificial intelligence is a rocket engine,” Mr. Lovelock said.

Collaboration

A text exchange Lauren Dodge, who works for a medical company outside Cleveland, had with her boss. She thought she was texting with her husband. PHOTO: LAUREN DODGE

In workplaces across America, the humble text message is making deep inroads, the WSJ's Te-Ping Chen reports. Once seen as too personal for work, the casual medium is now being embraced by companies for its speed and convenience. Cue a delicate social dance—and attendant social hiccups.

Technology News

Attendees walk through the Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco on April 9. PHOTO: MICHAEL SHORT/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Google Cloud brings on SAP vet. Robert Enslin, once considered by some as a possible successor to SAP CEO Bill McDermott, has been named Google Cloud's president of global customer operations. Mr. Enslin left SAP in April after 27 years at the company, including stints as head of the cloud business group and board member since 2014.

Uber nears investment deal for self-driving car unit. A $1 billion investment by a group including SoftBank Group Corp. could help Uber Technologies Inc. with the enormous task of developing the technology required to make self-driving taxis a reality, the WSJ reports. In its IPO filing, Uber said it spent nearly $1.1 billion between 2016 and 2018 in research and development for its autonomous-vehicle division and related technologies.

Apple is still in the race. The company has approached at least four separate companies that supply lidar sensors for self-driving cars, Reuters reports.

Facebook apologizes. The company admitted Wednesday that it uploaded the email contacts of 1.5 million new users since May 2016. Facebook Inc. said it is deleting the data, Reuters reports. The glitch occurred when some new users signed in for the first time by verifying their account by email, Business Insider reports. In some instances a message popped up saying Facebook was "importing contacts."

Breaking tech news. The $2,000 Galaxy Fold, the latest device from Samsung Electronics Co. is already breaking and it hasn't even been officially released, reports CNBC, the Verge and Bloomberg. Samsung said it would investigate the causes behind malfunctioning phones issued to tech reviewers, casting doubts over the rollout of the industry’s first mainstream foldable-screen device,
the WSJ reports.

Amazon.com checks out of China's e-commerce market. The company told sellers on Thursday that it will no longer operate its third-party online marketplace or provide seller services on its Chinese website, Amazon.cn, beginning July 18. With the decision, Amazon, which entered China in 2004, joins Walmart Inc., E-Bay Inc. and Groupon in ditching China’s fiercely competitive domestic e-commerce market. The WSJ has more.

FCC’s Pai opposes China Mobile bid to enter U.S. market. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said he would recommend denying China Mobile USA’s application to begin providing some telecom services in the U.S., citing national security risks. The move sets up a vote at the FCC’s May 9 meeting, where it appears likely that the long-delayed application will be denied. China Mobile USA originally filed its application in 2011, the WSJ reports.

Note to Readers

The Morning Download will not publish Friday. Major U.S. markets will be closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday.

Everything Else You Need to Know

Attorney General William Barr will hold a press briefing on the Mueller report at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, hours before a version is to be given to Congress. (WSJ)

JPMorgan Chase put two women with decades of experience at the bank at the top of the list to one day succeed James Dimon as chief executive. (WSJ)

As a raging fire engulfed the wood-and-metal frame atop Notre Dame, Paris’s fire department made a decision that likely saved the structure from complete collapse: They gave up on the roof and turned to saving the cathedral’s Gothic towers. (WSJ)